From September 1992, the late Peter Mitchell proves remarkably prescient with "A Question of Bits." PM writes, "Someday we may speak wistfully to our grandchildren about the 'golden age' of digital audio when consumer formats contained a bitstream that was an…
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In a landmark special feature, Chris Dunn & Malcolm Omar Hawksford thoroughly dissect the vicissitudes of the digital interface and jitter in Bits is Bits? The authors note, "The theoretical performance obtainable from the 16-bit linear PCM format sampled at 44.1kHz is superior to any analog sources available to the consumer."
Last year the music industry was jolted from its complacency by the rise of MP3, a scheme for the quick and easy transfer of digital audio files over the Internet. Legal attempts to block the format as a form of copyright violation failed, and the industry began scrambling to find a way to prevent the wholesale piracy of higher-resolution formats to come. The Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), an alliance of more than 240 hardware, software, and music-publishing companies, has been working overtime trying to develop an unobtrusive technique for preventing unauthorized copying—something…
Audiophiles are just warming up to the debate on how (or why) they should set up multi-channel audio in the home (see previous story). But perhaps the listening room will ultimately take a back seat to a more obvious choice for a multi-channel environment: the automobile. Several multi-channel products are being announced for the autosound market, including a new Fujitsu DVD player with 5.1 audio.
Announced by Fujitsu Ten's Eclipse car stereo division last week, the new product is called the DVD Source Unit 55090, and—when combined with the Digital Decoder 39011—it will provide 5.1…
During the week of October 14, Thiel Audio Products president Kathy Gornik completed an unprecedented triple play.
A longtime volunteer for the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Gornik was elected chair of the CEA's Board of Directors and Executive Board for the coming year. Her election makes her the first woman, the first executive of a small manufacturing company, and the first representative of the high-end audio community to serve in that position.
"In addition to being the first female to serve as chair, Kathy will provide us with the point of view of a small-business…
The slippery slope established by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 could soon get much slipperier. Three major media conglomerates have teamed up to pressure the Federal Communications Commission to drop the remaining restrictions on the ownership of broadcasting stations.
The three media giants—News Corp.'s Fox Entertainment Group, Viacom Inc. (parent company of the CBS and UPN networks and Paramount film studios), and General Electric Co.'s NBC division—have jointly petitioned the FCC seeking elimination of the ownership caps, which have been gradually loosened since the first major…
According to numbers just released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), April audio factory-to-dealer sales shot up by 13% to $611 million, representing a year-to-date increase of 10%. The CEA says that audio revenues in all categories except aftermarket autosound experienced double-digit growth in both monthly and year-to-date sales. Aftermarket autosound remained steady, keeping pace with its record-breaking sales in 1999.
Also noted: revenue from portable audio sales grew 24% during April, reaching a total of $172 million. The CEA adds that almost every subcategory in this…
The jazz world mourns the passing of tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson, who died late Saturday June 30 in San Francisco. He was 64.
Henderson had suffered from emphysema for a long time, and three years ago endured a stroke that effectively ended his performing career. The cause of death was heart failure, according to his sister, Phyllis Henderson McGee of Lima, Ohio.
Winner of four Grammy awards—all of them achieved when he was in his 50s—Henderson was a lyrical player with a wide range, equally adept as a soloist or as part of an ensemble. Early in his career, he was compared to…
It's been a tough year for some of the audiophile record labels, as witnessed by the demise in late November of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (see previous story). The shock of MoFi's sudden departure even prompted Kimber Kable's Ray Kimber to fire off an e-mail to everyone within virtual reading range, urging them to buy a few audiophile CDs and LPs right now, before it's too late.
So in light of the precarious path many audiophile labels travel, it's always welcome news when one talks of branching out. Last week, Reference Recordings, known internationally as an independent classical and…
After a particularly tough year, Carver Corporation announced last week that it has executed an agreement with founder Bob Carver, who had sold his interest in the company and then started up privately held Sunfire Corporation (see previous story). The new agreement places Sunfire in charge of the development, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution, under the Carver brand name, of a new line of home and car products that will incorporate "new" technologies. The agreement also establishes a new manufacturer's representative and independent dealer network to rebuild Carver Corporation,…
McIntosh Laboratory unveiled for the press three new products that they will be showing at CEDIA next month. They are the MX135 A/V Control Center (already shipping), the MVP861 Universal Player, and the MC207 7-channel Power Amplifier, all with McIntosh's signature design and cosmetics.
The MX135 A/V controller is an impressive device which includes most of the functions of the C45 multichannel analog preamplifier with a full complement of digital inputs, balanced and unbalanced inputs/outputs, digital processing (including Dolby ProLogic IIx), and five sets of video inputs and multi-zone…